Letters in the Snow
by dianasbow
Summary: This is set in WWII. Alphonse Heiderich drops off a little something with the Allied forces. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

This is based on the movie which I know nothing about, other than that Edward winds up in Germany with Alphonse Heiderich.

The premise is based on an actual historical event in WWII. The Allied forces found a box outside one of their forts that contained German rocket plans. It's all in Unexplained Mysteries of WWII. Good book.

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA, or the movie, or the book that I got the inspiration from, or anything to do with WWII. I checked it out from the library.

"Hallo, hier ist London," the radio said as it launched into its German broadcast.

Line up the straight edge.

Draw a line.

Scrawl calculations here and there.

Check inaccuracy.

Perfectly bad.

This rocket would not fly.

He reached for a rolled up piece of paper and laid it out on his drawing board.

Check calculations.

Perfect.

He reached for a blank piece of paper and copied the rocket plan, calculations and all. This one he folded in half, then again, and again, until it fit in a manila envelope.

Oh, he loved those. Wonderful inventions. Whatever genius had come up with an envelope that was bigger than his hand should be commended. He snagged one off his desk and slid the copied plan inside. He picked a pin from the jar on his drawing board and wrote:

_Allied Forces_

_As promised._

The Fuhrer must never find out about this, he knew. He could be killed, or sent to a concentration camp, or have his work confiscated.

He shuddered at the thought and flipped his long blonde ponytail over his shoulder, then put the envelope in a box, taped it shut and slipped out the door to the entryway, careful not to wake the man sleeping across the room.

The night was cold. Border weather was always rough, it seemed. He yanked on a heavy coat and a pair of gloves, picked up the box, and walked out into the blizzard.

The fort he was heading for was about five miles away, some two hours away on foot. He couldn't risk taking the jeep. It made too much noise and he didn't need his friend to wake up. Besides, the tracks were too easy to follow. If he went through the woods, it would be a little longer, but at least he had less of a chance of being caught.

The border of Poland wasn't the safest place for a German rocket scientist. He was supposed to be moved to the capital soon, for his own protection. Until then, though, no one, not even his friend, could be trusted.

He spent three hours sneaking through the woods before he came to the Allied fort. He couldn't remember the name, but this was where he'd decided to drop off all the help he could.

He narrowly avoided three Allied soldiers on patrol by climbing a tree. When they had passed, he slid back down and sneaked up to the walls.

He pressed his back to the wall and crept to the gates where he set the package down. He glanced around and made for the woods. Once he was there, it was only a matter of feet before he crossed the border back into Poland. He ran as fast as he could against the wind and smacked right into what he took for a tree at first…until it got up and grabbed him.

He looked up at the Allied soldier, fear and recognition in his eyes. It was one of the men on patrol. He had a kind face under a shock of red hair. He was trying to look stern and failing miserably.

"Who are you?" the soldier demanded in English.

"Don't tell, please don't tell," he begged in choppy, heavily accented English, golden brown eyes wide. "Please don't tell."

"Answer me," the soldier whispered, pulling him behind a large tree.

"Please, please, I must go," he begged. "I must be avay. I must be home."

"Tell me who you are, German, or I'll take you in and have you imprisoned," the soldier said. "Look, I'm Sergeant Major Stephen O'Kelly. Now, who are you?"

"Please, if I tell, vill you let me go?" he begged.

"That depends," O'Kelly replied.

"Please, I must be gone," he sobbed, tears streaming down his face and freezing on his cheeks in the cold.

"Come inside," the soldier offered. "You can at least have coffee and warm up."

"But I must be home before de dawn," he sobbed. "I must be home or dey vill become suspicious."

"It won't take long," O'Kelly said. "It won't take long and you won't freeze to death."

He considered this. "Vill you let me go?" he asked.

"That depends," O'Kelly replied.

"I can't," he said. "I can't go in. I vill never come back out."

"Then will you wait here and I'll go get you some coffee?" O'Kelly offered.

"If you are not too long," he replied. "Please, if you are so intent, raus, hurry."

"I will. Wait here."

And with that, O'Kelly dashed off into the blizzard, leaving him crouched in the shelter of the tree.

Notes

Hallo, hier ist London means Hello, here is London, literally translated.


	2. Chapter 2

I don't have a lot of time to do this sort of thing, so I'll update whenever I can get to the computer without running the gauntlet, so to speak.

Thank you to my reviewer. Glad I could make your day.

Disclaimer: I don't own it. Wish I did.

He must have fallen asleep, for the next thing he knew, Stephen O'Kelly, in all his frost covered glory, was standing over him, shaking him awake.

The warm hand on his face hurt. The soldier seemed to want him to open his eyes. Maybe if he did, the painful heat would go away. He tried to open his eyes and found them frozen shut.

He reached up and rubbed the ice crystals off of them, then opened his eyes and blinked a few times.

"Are you all right?" O'Kelly asked. "I thought I'd lost you."

"Ja," he replied. "I am fine."

"Here," O'Kelly said, handing him a thermos. "Now, who are you?"

"I am Alphonse Heiderich," he said, sipping out of the thermos.

"Why are you here?" the soldier asked.

"I must finish de deal," Alphonse replied. "Are you going in by de front gate?"

"Yes."

"Dere ist a boxin de snow. It is safe. It is for your kommandant," Alphonse said.

"How do I know it's safe?" Stephen demanded.

"It ist safe," Alphonse said, draining the last drops of coffee from the thermos. "I assure you. Danke. I must go now."

"Wait!" O'Kelly said. "What's in the box?"

"Confidential. No bombs," Alphonse said. "I assure you. Danke. I must go."

He stood. O'Kelly grabbed his arm as he walked by.

"Will you be back?" he asked.

"Depends upon if dey follow my instructions," Alphonse said. "I must go."

"If you come around this time, I'll be on patrol," O'Kelly said. "I'll look for you."

"Danke," Alphonse said over his shoulder. "But vhy are you telling me dis?"

"I can tell you're a good person. I'll keep an eye out for you," O'Kelly promised.

"Danke. Don't tell," Alphonse said.

He ran off in the direction of his home. The blizzard was letting up. He had to be home before his friend woke up.

Notes on German

Danke means thank you and is pronounced something along the lines of DAHNK-uh.

Ja is yes and is pronounced yah.


	3. Chapter 3

Notes: Robby is not an OC. He's based on Roy Mustang's brother. I'm not sure of the name, but I think it's Robert. If someone knows better, please let me know.

Disclaimer: I don't own it. Wish I did.

Alphonse crashed through the door and flung his coat over the rack by the fire to dry. He stoked up the fire and threw on another log. His friend sat at his desk, working on something.

"Vhat is for lunch?" Alphonse asked.

"Whatever you can dig out. I had leftover, nearly congealed soup," the man at the desk replied.

"You're a strange one, Robby," Alphonse said.

"I've been told. Why do you say that?" the tall blonde replied.

"I've seen your family. You're de exact opposite of dem. Dat and you're de only one I know who vould eat nearly congealed soup," Alphonse said.

"These calculations are wrong, you know," he said.

"Ja."

"You shouldn't send the Fuhrer bad plans. Or are you testing me again?" Robby asked.

"I'm testing you again," Alphonse said. "Must keep your skills sharp, ja? Vhen are ve moving to de capital?"

"Never, according to this," Robby Mustang mumbled over the rim of his coffee cup. "Says the Fuhrer likes us just where we are."

Alphonse sighed and sat on the couch. He was somewhat relieved. He really didn't want to be any closer to the Fuhrer or his minions. And he rather liked knowing that he could get to the fort easily.

"Still scared of the Fuhrer?" Robby asked.

"Ja. He is a scary person," Alphonse replied.

They lapsed into silence for a while. Alphonse was putting off going back to his drawing board. He didn't want to come up wit new, better, deadlier rockets. He hadn't studied to kill. He'd studied to find out what was past the sky.

There was a crack and a boom.

They looked at each other.

"Thunder storms?" Robby asked.

"At dis time of de year?" Alphonse asked.

They got up and raced for the door. Alphonse got there first and opened it.

There, on the snow covered ground, was a small heap of red fabric and blonde hair. He walked over and touched what appeared to be a shoulder. The heap groaned.

"Go make tea," Alphonse ordered, turning the young man over.

"We're out of tea," Robby pointed out.

"Den make coffee, something, I don't care!" Alphonse yelled.

Robby, cowed, dashed back into the house, leaving Alphonse alone with the young man.

Alphonse ran a hand over him and decided that he must still be alive. He rolled him over and laid his ear on the young man's chest, listening for a heartbeat. He found one and sat up.

When he was satisfied that he was alive and worth saving, rather than burying, he took him into the house and settled him on the couch. Robby had stoked up the fire and was pouring coffee into three cups.

The young man groaned again and shivered. Alphonse covered him with a blanket and sat down next to his feet.

"Who is it?" Robby asked, handing Alphonse a cup of coffee.

"How should I know? I have never seen him," Alphonse replied.

There was another groan and the small person opened his eyes… His gold eyes…

"Unh," it moaned. "Al?"


	4. Chapter 4

This is really unusual. Normally, my dad would be on the 'net and I wouldn't have a chance to update.

I guess there was some confusion over the Fuhrer in this story. I'm actually referring to Hitler, but I guess it could be either.

One last note: Nein is no in German.

Disclaimer: I don't own it. Wish I did.

"Do you know him?" Robby asked.

"Nein," Alphonse replied.

"Maybe he means another Al?" he suggested.

"Maybe," Alphonse agreed.

"Vell, ve'd better find out. I don't vant to vake up one night to find he's out to kill dis 'Al' person," Alphonse said.

"Yeah, that might be a bit awkward," Robby said.

"Al?" he repeated. "Roy?"

"Dere is no one here who answers to dose names," Alphonse said. "I am Alphonse Heiderich and he's Robby Mustang."

"Edward Elric," he said. "Where am I? Where's Al?"

"You are in Germany. Ve do not know vhere dese people are," Alphonse informed him.

"Where are you from?" Robby asked.

"Amestris," Edward replied. "What's Germany and what am I doing in it?"

Robby had to turn away to hide his laughs, but he couldn't hide the choked laughs, or how obviously funny he thought Edward's answer was.

"Don't mind him. Germany is a country. Vhy don't you ask yourself vhat you're doing in it? It's not like you told us," Alphonse said. He'd been up all night and was tired and didn't want to deal with lost kids, dammit. And what was Amestris, anyway?

Then the answer popped into his head. Amestris was where Robby was from.

"So," Robby said, finally getting over his hysterics. "Are you involved with the military?"

"Yes. I'm a state alchemist," Edward replied.

"Don't tell people stuff like that," Robby warned. "But just between you and me, has Roy reached the top yet? Idiot's my brother, you know."

"No, no he hasn't," Edward said. "I don't even remember where he was. I haven't seen him in a while."

Robby shook his head. "Always wanted it all, he did."

"Aren't you from Amestris?" Alphonse said.

"Why, yes, I am, as a matter of fact," Robby replied.

"Where in Amestris?" Edward asked.

"Central City," he replied.

"I'll get more coffee," Alphonse said quietly and got up. Neither seemed to hear him.

Talk all you want, he thought. Talk all you want, but there'll be a little less of that boy when the soldiers come and he doesn't have a story.

So he was feeling pessimistic.

Seven hours in a blizzard whilst dodging soldiers from both sides of the continent will do that to you.


	5. Chapter 5

I have been home late the last couple of days. Sorry I didn't update faster.

Disclaimer: I don't own it. Wish I did.

As the days passed, Edward got bored. He couldn't draw transmutation circles, in case they got inspected. He couldn't dress in his normal clothes. Alphonse had lent him some and they had burned his. He was sleeping on a pallet on the floor. Alphonse's cat joined him most times.

Then, one day, Robby turned to him and asked, "Do you know what a rocket is?"

"A rocket?" Edward repeated, trying out the word. "No."

"Well, you're going to learn before the government decides you're useless. C'mere," Robby ordered.

Edward got up and crossed the room. He pulled a chair over to the drawing board and settled in.

It had been a lot easier than Robby had made it seem. Like transmutation without circles and one had to put things together by hand. It wasn't hard, but it wasn't easy either. He'd been given the task of errand boy until he learned the basics. Then, they said, they would let him try some of it.

Alphonse made all of the models and most of the plans. He wouldn't let either Amestran near them. He had a safe where he kept letters from the capital, guns, and ammunition. He had another devoted to plans and models. This was emptied every time the soldiers came for inspection.

Alphonse always seemed a little nervous when the inspectors came and Edward couldn't figure out why. He couldn't have been hiding anything, could he? Edward couldn't see him in that light.

Edward smiled as the cat rubbed against his ankles. He was learning German slowly. The first thing he had learned was the cat's name, which meant "My Love." He had been billed as an intern in rocket science so that the soldiers wouldn't suspect anything.

He drew a line down the page in front of him to complete the diagram he'd been working on. Then he scrawled some calculations on it and called Robby over.

"Is this right?" he asked.

Robby checked his work and nodded. "You're getting the hang of it. We can't quite send it to the Fuhrer, though. With a bit more work, maybe we can," Robby replied.

Edward smiled. Robby had a way of making him feel good, almost like Roy had, but nicer about it.

There was a knock at the door. Edward knew what that meant.

"Get the door, would you, Edvard?" Alphonse called.

Ed got up and opened the door.

"Hello?" he said.

"I see you can speak now," the tall soldier said.Edward had always been silent before.his eyes widened. This soldier gave him the creeps.

"Come in," he said, saluting.

The soldier strode in, trailing snow. He sat on the couch and looked at Alphonse expectantly.

Alphonse was on his feet in an instant, intent on getting the soldier out as fast as he could. He saluted, then turned to get the plans from the safe. He rolled them all together and shoved them in the soldier's direction.

"That's all ve have," he said.

"You should have more, vit dat boy here as vell," the soldier scolded.

"His vork is not qvite ready for the real thing. He is still learning," Alphonse said.

"Let me see," the soldier demanded.

Alphonse glared at him, as though challenging him to tell him he didn't know what he was talking about, and walked over to the drawing board. He snatched the diagram Ed had just finished up and almost threw it at the soldier. Then he made a point of showing him all of the flaws.

The soldier finally relented and left.

"I am sorry," Alphonse said to Edward. "He vould not have left ottervise. You are getting better, but dese tings must be perfect."

"I understand," Edward said.

Alphonse grabbed a chair and sat down next to Edward at the drawing board. They spent the rest of the day working out the kinks before Alphonse had to go to bed.


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been getting home late and missing my alarm in the mornings.

This has a bit of shonen-ai, just to warn you. You have to squint to see it.

Disclaimer: I don't own it. Wish I did.

Here's Chapter 6 finally.

"Hallo, hier ist London," the radio said.

Line up straight edge.

Draw line.

Scrawl calculations.

Check inaccuracy.

Perfect.

This rocket would not fly.

But this one would take Robby forever to work out.

He reached for a plan. It was an old rocket he had been improving upon. He copied the new plan, folded it, and slid it into a manila envelope, then wrote:

Allied Forces.

As Promised.

He put it in a box with several other envelopes and strode into the entryway. He pulled on his coat and gloves. He would have to be more careful tonight. It hadn't quite developed into a blizzard yet.

He grabbed the box and headed into the woods.

When he reached the fort after three hours of walking, he crept to the tree that he and Stephen O'Kelly had sat under. He settled down to wait.

An hour later, Stephen appeared. He had a thermos with him and a box of his own. Alphonse suspected that he'd seen the letter with his instructions on it as Stephen sat down next to him and handed him the thermos.

"Danke," Alphonse said.

"I missed you," Stephen replied quietly.

"I can't see vhy. Ve've only met once," he said, then, "I missed you, too.

They leaned together and sipped the coffee. It was a while before either of them spoke.

"I have anodder box for your Kommandant," Alphonse said, gesturing to the box next to him.

"Thank you," Stephen said. "Mister Churchill was very grateful for the present. He said he'd like to meet whoever left it at our doorstep."

"Did you tell?" Alphonse asked.

"No."

"Danke."

They lapsed into silence again.

"Can I trust you to keep everything a secret?" Alphonse asked.

"Of course," Stephen replied. "My job was secrets before I got transferred."

"Ve found a young man on de lawn, after de last blizzard ended," he said. "Do you know any Elrics?"

"No," Stephen said. "Why?"

"He said his name vas Edvard Elric and he was from Amestris. I thought maybe he meant America," Alphonse said. "I suppose not."

They sat together for a while longer. Then Alphonse got up.

"I must go," he said.

"I'll miss you," Stephen promised.

As Alphonse walked by, he grabbed the rocket scientist's arm and pulled him into a warm embrace.

"Come back to see me," he said. "When this is all over, you can stay with me for a while."

He leaned down and kissed Alphonse on the cheek. Alphonse's eyes widened and he flung his arms around the soldier's waist. When they finally separated, Alphonse raced back toward home.


	7. Chapter 7

My word processor wouldn't work! AAAGH! But I'm updating now.

If I haven't mentioned it yet, the BBC is the British Broadcast Corporation.

Disclaimer: I don't own it. Wish I did. Don't own BBC, either.

Robby was on the couch with a book when Alphonse got home. The first thing Alphonse did was go into an all out panic mode. Had they been inspected? Did Robby suspect something?

"So, who's the lucky lady?" Robby teased.

Alphonse sighed inwardly. Was that all? "Not telling," he said. It wasn't exactly a lie.

"Well, a busy boy like you had better get some sleep," Robby said. He got up and plopped down on his own bed.

Was that jealousy, Alphonse wondered. No. Robby wouldn't be jealous. He abandoned that train of thought and went to bed, stepping over Edward's sleeping form on his way. Oh, well. Whatever it was, Robby would talk about it sometime.

He yawned and stretched and crawled into bed.

Alphonse leaned over Ed's shoulder. It had been three days since the blizzard. "Let me see," he said.

Edward moved just enough so that Alphonse could see the rocket he was working on. Alphonse checked his calculations and smiled. Ed had been living with them for just a month and he was already drawing rockets that could, theoretically, fly.

"Vould you like to model it now?" Alphonse asked. "I'll even let you touch it if you promise not to break it."

"Why can't Robby?" Ed asked. "He's better at this than I am."

"Because every time he does, everyting is either in pieces or exploding," Alphonse explained.

"Does not!" Robby yelled indignantly.

Ed laughed.

The radio was on in the corner by Alphonse's desk and drawing board. He checked his watch and switched it over to the BBC. They started the broadcast on the war at four every afternoon.

"Hallo, hier ist London," the radio said. "Allied troops liberated the concentration camp at Auschwitz today…"

Alphonse glanced at the radio, wondering why they hadn't hit Poland yet as he got out scissors, a box cutter, and glue. That was a first. They skip enemy territory and hit a work camp. It sounded like they were out of their minds. Of course, Alphonse wasn't a great strategist, either.

Just as he sat down, there was a knock at the door. They all looked up. The German soldiers had never knocked before. Alphonse got up and walked to the door. He opened it a crack, peered out, and slammed it shut again.

"What's wrong?" Robby asked.

"Allieds. Dey've come for us," he hissed.

"What?" Robby demanded. "Why?"

"I don't know. Ve're only making veapons for de Germans," Alphonse snapped. "Ve must leave. Dey'll kill us."

"They're out back, too," said Edward, peeking out the window. "They have guns."

"Well, if we can't get out, we can wait or surrender," Robby said. "There are no other options."

Alphonse glanced at him, then at the door, and walked back to his desk. He opened the bottom left drawer and pulled out a small handgun. He tossed it to Robby and a knife to Edward, then produced a second gun from another drawer.

The knocks were getting more insistant.

"Ve have one otter option," Alphonse said.

The knocks stopped. A moment later, a splintering crack rang through the house as an axe head split the door.

"Dammit!" he yelled. "Do you know how much dat door cost me?"

"Heiderich!" Robby said. "Get your priorities in order. We're about to be chopped up and fed to dogs and you're worried about a door?"

the axeman took another swing, busting the gash in the door a little wider, just wide enough that Alphonse could see his chest from where he stood. Alphonse pointed the gun at him and fired. The man fell back, blood spurting from his wounds as his comrades pulled him away from the door.

Robby ran over and tackled Alphonse. "You idiot! We're going to get caught anyway! Don't make it worse for us than it already is!" he snapped.

Alphonse struggled to get away from him, thrashing and kicking. Somewhere in the struggle, the lamp on his desk was knocked over and the desk itself went up in flames.

Robby decided not to wait around. He popped his friend over the head and dragged the dazed young man out the door, motioning for Edward to follow.

Alphonse was deposited in a snow bank. Robby plopped down beside him. Edward was standing in front of him, fear in his eyes. A soldier led him away after a few moments.

Then hands were yanking him to his feet. His knees gave out about then, and he passed out.


	8. Chapter 8

I finally found time for an update. It's been so hard getting at the computer. I actually woke up to my alarm this morning. That gave me another hour, as opposed to the ten minutes I have when I get home.

Disclaimer: I don't own it, wish I did.

"Is he okay?" he heard someone ask.

Who was that? Why did he sound familiar?

"He's burned and has inhaled far too much smoke for his own good," said another voice.

He didn't recognize this one.

He mumbled incoherently, trying to ask who was there, what was going on. But he couldn't make his voice work right and his eyes wouldn't open.

Was this what it felt like to die? Or was it what it felt like in hell?

Hands reached down and touched his face. Rough callused hands. These hands had seen a lot. He leaned into it, feeling how cool it was from the snow outside and the painful burns on his own face. It seemed to be all that was keeping him attached to Earth.

He finally got his eyes to open a bit, then immediately closed them again. The bright light above him put everything into perspective.

What had happened?

He'd been an idiot and burned down his own house with his life's work inside, that's what.

What was going on?

He was obviously in a hospital somewhere. Where else did they hang a bright light over your face? Nowhere else he could think of.

He opened his eyes again and looked up into the worried face of Stephen O'Kelly. He was happily blocking the light from view. It was a few minutes longer before he found his voice.

"Wh-Where's Robby?" He mumbled. "Where's Edvard?"

"They're around here somewhere. They didn't decide to stick around in a burning building, thought, so they aren't getting the bright light and the hard bed." Stephen's look at this point informed Alphonse that he was a crazy bastard and shouldn't forget it.

"I don't think I can move," Alphonse observed.

"No, I don't think you can," said the stranger as he shoved Stephen over and bent down to examine his face. "You're badly burned, after all."

He had a British accent. Alphonse looked at him. He must have been the doctor, as far as Alphonse could tell.

"I had to tell them about you," Stephen said. "I'm sorry. They pretty much figured it out, anyway."

Alphonse frowned. "I almost died. I broke my promise, too," he said. "I should be begging your forgiveness."

"I'm about to be sent back to America. You could come with me," Stephen offered, yet again.

"Dat vould be nice, but vouldn't dey vant to put me on trial or somet'ing?" Alphonse asked. "Not like I'd get avay from it anyvay."

Ed appeared over him then.

"Are you going to lay there all day, or are you going to get your ass out of bed?" the small blonde demanded.

"I'm fine, danke," Alphonse croaked.

"I think I've figured out how to get back home. Unless you want me to stay longer, I'm going home as soon as I can. Robby too," Edward said. "Of course, that won't be for a couple of months, because he has to order something for me."

"Good," Alphonse said. "I'm going back to sleep now."


	9. Epilogue

Ah! Sunday. Sunday when I actually have time and opportunity to sit down and work on the computer. Wonderful, wonderful, Sunday.

Anyway, I have something to say that needs saying, because I haven't said it before. And if I don't make sense, it's because I haven't had all of the caffeine needed to function.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, to all of my reviewers. You make my day and I love you all. Happy Sunday. Have a great day, week, month, year, whatever, and thank you, thank you, thank you for sticking with me.

On with it, says my alter ego.

Disclaimer: I don't own 'em. Wish I did.

Epilogue

It was strange, he thought, that he'd been so eager to share some of his plans, but had lost it all at the end.

The war had ended three months earlier. Edward and Robby had stuck around for a while, then gone back to their Amestris. They'd invited him to come along, but he had declined, saying that another Nazi government was the last thing he needed. He missed them. Stephen O'Kelly had talked him into moving to New York with him.

Now he was back in Germany, one last time, to see if he could pick up the pieces. He hadn't been back in nearly a year.

The house was a mass of charred wood and blackened steel sticking up out of the pristine, white December snow. He walked toward it.

As he walked to where the front door had been, he tripped over something. He looked down.

There was a small, black book lying under the snow. He wouldn't have found it if his legs had been longer. He picked it up and flipped through it.

Circles.

Symbols.

Words he didn't understand.

Ja, he thought, it vas Edvard's research journal, all right.

There was a piece of folded paper in the back. He pulled it out and opened it.

It was the last rocket Edward had ever drawn.

He'd never gotten to see if it would fly.

Alphonse stepped into the charred skeleton of his house and looked around. Nothing, he decided, was worth haking with. Few things had survived. What had brought back too many painful memories.

He stood in the corner where his desk had been for a little while, wondering how his Amestran friends were, wondering where they were, if they'd gotten home safely and found their families.

He turned and walked out, leaving his past and the bloody war behind him to return to his future and someone who would be missing him as of yesterday.


End file.
